Uterine cramps usually occur at the onset of the menstrual cycle. These cramps can feel like an abdominal charley horse and bring on diarrhea and nausea. Often, menstrual cramps tend to ease off within a day or two.
Menstrual cramps are commonly associated with Premenstrual Syndrome. Fibroids, benign tumors of the uterus, are another cause of cramping at menses. A fibroid tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue that occurs in the uterus. They have no useful function nor do they generally spread to other parts of the body. They usually do not return if surgically removed.
Royal Recommendations for Prevention and Treatment
1. Avoid consumption of refined foods (e.g., white sugar), processed foods (e.g., white flour), and fatty foods. Also abstain from alcohol, caffeine products, chocolate, coffee, dairy products, white salt, and tobacco. These all exacerbate menstrual cramping. Restrict your intake of red meat. Animal fats increase the production of arachidonic acid. (See “Allergy—Food.”)
2. Increase your consumption of complex carbohydrates, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
3. Increase your fiber intake. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains, oat bran, psyllium husk, and guar gum are good sources of fiber. Fiber provides bulk to the stool and it also binds and speeds the elimination of toxins (including prostaglandins) from the gut. (See “Constipation.”)
4. Increase your water intake. This is especially important if you are increasing your fiber intake. Usually 6-8 glasses of distilled, spring, or reverse osmosis water is adequate.
5. Regular exercise can greatly reduce the severity of menstrual cramping. (See “Obesity.”) Endorphins released during exercise ease pain and enhance your sense of well-being. Adding 20 minutes of aerobic exercise (e.g., brisk walking), three or four times weekly, is usually adequate.
6. Normal thyroid function is essential for hormonal balance. (See “Hypothyroidism.”) Check your thyroid by taking your basal body temperature. Place a thermometer under your arm for 10 minutes before arising in the morning on two consecutive days. Your basal body temperature should be greater than 97.8. If not, then you could probably benefit from natural thyroid supplementation. DHEA, pregnenolone, and progesterone should be considered as well.
7. Get your hormones balanced. If you take oral birth control pills or hormone replacement estrogen, be aware that this depletes the body of certain B-vitamins (e.g., B2, B3, B6, and B12) which you need to replace. Avoid synthetic estrogen as it is known to stimulate growth of cancer cells, cause heart arrhythmias, increase your risk of stroke, and cause the blood to clot.
8. Check your medicine cabinet. While diuretics may help reduce bloating and edema, they also strip the body of minerals (e.g., magnesium, calcium, and potassium) that are important in preventing muscle cramps.
9. Warmth will increase blood flow and relax your muscles. Drink hot herbal tea or hot lemonade. Also, put a heating pad or hot-water bottle on your abdomen for a few minutes at a time. Take a bath and add one cup of Epsom salt or baking soda and soak for 20 minutes. During an acute attack of abdominal pain, lie down, take a deep breath, or use a hot-water bottle or heating pad on the tummy to bring relief.
10. Do you have heavy metals? Get them checked and find out. (See “Chelation Therapy.”) If body levels of lead are high, it will block the binding of estrogen to its receptor sites in the body. A magnesium deficiency will worsen this effect by increasing lead absorption from the diet and reducing your resistance to stress. (See “Premenstrual Syndrome.”)
11. Supplements which are useful in the treatment of this condition are vitamins A, C, and E, B-complex, Bioflavonoids, the minerals magnesium and zinc, essential fatty acids such as those found in flax seed oil, and acidophilus. Magnesium is particularly useful as it helps the body absorb calcium. Known as a “natural relaxant,” magnesium also helps control food cravings, stabile moods, and enhances absorption of calcium from the diet. Magnesium may be obtained from certain foods (e.g., beans, fish, green/leafy vegetables, peas, tofu, rice bran, spinach, and tofu), taken as a supplement, or added to warm bath water in the form of Epsom salt.
12. Herbs which inhibit inflammation, balance hormones, relieve uterine cramping, and improve liver function include black haw, blessed thistle, Bromelain, cayenne, dong quai, gingerroot, ginseng, kelp, licorice root, milk thistle, raspberry, sarsaparilla, and squaw vine. If fibroid tumors are present, consider barberry, comfrey, dandelion, Jason winters and pau d’arco teas, poke root, and red clover.
13. Homeopathics to consider include: Belladonna (pain one day before flow, face red and throbbing), Calcarea Carbonica (for overweight women who tend to be sluggish) Chamomilla (labor-like pains), Cimicifuga (accompanied by premenstrual headache), Gelsemium (sharp pains in the lower abdomen and back), Lachesis (if PMS improves with the onset of menses), Magnesium Phosphoricum (spasm of a colicky nature), Natrum Muriaticum (for women who tend to be quiet and insecure), Phosphorus (for slim, outgoing women), Pulsatilla (if also emotionally oversensitive), Sepia (if symptoms worsen with the onset of menses), Sulphur (if periods are irregular and accompanied by burning pains), and Viburnum (when there is sudden pain which spreads over the entire uterus).
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